Researchers bring oral cancer-fighting patch to patients

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: staff The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan have signed an exclusive worldwide agreement with Ohio-based Venture Therapeutics, Inc, to form a new company to develop and commercialize a pharmaceutical technology targeted for the treatment of precancerous oral lesions. These lesions are currently managed by invasive surgery and approximately a third of these lesions will reoccur after surgery. Previously published data shows that about 30 percent of the higher grade precancerous oral lesions progress to oral cancer, specifically oral squamous cell carcinoma. This type of cancer is particularly devastating to patients because treatment entails removal of facial and mouth structures essential for esthetics and function. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 42,440 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer and over 8,390 oral cancer related deaths will occur in 2014. The pharmaceutical technology developed by researchers at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Dentistry with secondary appointments at the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) and the University of Michigan addresses a significant unmet need related to the prevention of oral cancer. Precancerous oral lesions can be seen and touched by patients, so this easy access to the lesion allows the use of local delivery formulations in an oral patch to directly treat the disease without causing adverse side effects. "This type of collaboration, involving multiple university partners with strong industry support, is increasingly essential to expedite the discovery, development and [...]

Heartburn and throat cancer: is there a link?

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com Author: staff Heartburn may raise a person's risk for throat cancer, but it seems that antacids could have a protective effect, according to a new study. The research, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, shows that people with a history of frequent heartburn, also known as acid reflux, have a 78 percent higher risk of developing vocal cord or throat cancers. But they also found that for people with frequent heartburn, taking antacids can lower risk of these cancers by 41 percent. "Additional studies are needed to validate the chemopreventive effects of antacids among patients with frequent heartburn," study researcher Scott M. Langevin, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Brown University, said in a statement. "The identification of gastric reflux as a risk factor for throat and vocal cord cancers, however, may have implications in terms of risk stratification and identification of high-risk patients." The study included 631 people who were part of a case-control study in Boston, 468 of whom had throat cancer and 163 of whom had vocal cord cancer, as well as 1,234 people with no cancer history. Researchers analyzed family history of cancer, smoking history and drinking history of all the study participants, as well as presence of HPV 16 viral protein antigens since HPV can cause some head and neck cancers. Researchers found that the increased risk for throat and vocal cord cancers was higher among the people experiencing frequent heartburn, even when they had no history of smoking or [...]

Chemopreventive agents in black raspberries identified

Source: news.biocompare.com Author: staff A study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, identifies components of black raspberries with chemopreventive potential. Researchers at the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center found that anthocyanins, a class of flavonoids in black raspberries, inhibited growth and stimulated apoptosis in the esophagus of rats treated with an esophageal carcinogen. "Our data provide strong evidence that anthocyanins are important for cancer prevention," said the study's lead author, Gary D. Stoner, Ph.D., a professor in the department of internal medicine at Ohio State University. Stoner and his team of researchers fed rats an anthocyanin-rich extract of black raspberries and found that the extract was nearly as effective in preventing esophageal cancer in rats as whole black raspberries containing the same concentration of anthocyanins. This study demonstrates the importance of anthocyanins as preventive agents in black raspberries and validated similar in vitro findings. It is among the first to look at the correlation between anthocyanins and cancer prevention in vivo. Stoner and his colleagues have conducted clinical trials using whole berry powder, which has yielded some promising results, but required patients to take up to 60 grams of powder a day. "Now that we know the anthocyanins in berries are almost as active as whole berries themselves, we hope to be able to prevent cancer in humans using a standardized mixture of anthocyanins," said Stoner. "The goal is to potentially replace whole berry powder with its active components and then figure [...]

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